1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data generation method, a computer-readable storage medium, and a structure manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one of the three-dimensional structure manufacturing techniques, a technique of printing, in black ink or toner, a desired pattern on a print medium including an expansion layer that expands by heating and then irradiating the print medium uniformly with light is known. This technique utilizes the property that a region printed in black ink or toner has higher heat absorptivity and is heated to a higher temperature than a region not printed in black ink or toner, and causes the region printed in black ink or toner to expand and rise. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-171317 describes a three-dimensional printer using this technique.
A three-dimensional structure can not only provide visual information but also provide tactile information to a person who touches the structure. Therefore, the aforementioned technique for manufacturing a three-dimensional structure using printing technology is widely expected to be used in the fields such as braille and tactile graphics.